Mhd Hazem Naw of Syria returns a shot to Fahmi Alward of Yemen in the second singles match of the Junior Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Pre-Qualifying competition yesterday. Hazem won 6-1, 6-1.
Charmaine Seah of Singapore hits a forehand return to Tammy Ackerman of Oacific Oceania in the second singles match yesterday. Seah won 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. — Photos by Teo Chi Wei
KUCHING: Top seeded Singapore suffered a 1-2 upset at the hands of fourth seeds Pacific Oceania while Sri Lanka, Iran and Kyrgyzstan all recorded opening wins on the first day of the Junior Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Pre-Qualifying competition at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) tennis centre yesterday.
The island republic lined up Goh Yee Loon in the first singles but she lost 3-6, 6-7(16) to Mulan Kamoe.
Charmaine Seah was next up and she managed to secure a point for Singapore by beating Tammy Ackerman 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Mulan and Ayana Kawai Rengil secured Pacific Oceania’s win by beating Goh and Seah 6-4, 6-4 in the doubles.
On another court, it was a different story for second seeds Sri Lanka who eased to a 3-0 win over third seeds Pakistan.
Rushika Wijesuriya put Sri Lanka one-up when she beat Mahin Aftab Qureshi 6-0, 6-2 and Medhira Samarasinghe white-washed Alina Aftab Qureshi 6-0, 6-0 in the second singles.
The doubles match saw Medhira and Rushika beating Hania Navaid and Mahin Aftab 6-4, 6-3.
Other matches saw Iran beating Lebanon 3-0 and Kyrgyzstan beating Turkmenistan also by 3-0.
In the Junior Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Pre-Qualifying competition, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh all got off to winning starts in their respective groups.
Tournament third seeds Syria had no problem in overcoming sixth seeds Yemen 3-0 in Group C, with Karim Chikh Basatem delivering the first point for his team when he beat Belal Alhuraibi 7-6(4), 6-4.
Mhd Hazem Naw followed up with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Fahmi Alward while Talid Mourad and Mhd Hazem teamed up to defeat Belal and Fahmi 6-0, 6-3.
In the Bangladesh-Lebanon clash in Group D, Bangladesh’s Mohammad Kawsar Ali emerged a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Karim Slaibi in the first singles and the second singles saw Mohammad Rubel Hossain disposing of Marc El Boustany 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Mohammad Istiak and Mohammad Kawsar wrapped up the 3-0 victory for Bangladesh by defeating Marc and Cedric Tanios Samaha 4-6, 6-4, 4-3 (retired).
Third seeds Pakistan also registered their first victory by beating fifth seeds Turkmenistan 3-0 in Group D and in another Group C match, Saudi Arabia earned their first point by blanking Iran 3-0.
Other action saw Sri Lanka edging Iraq 2-1 and Lao PDR also beating Bhutan 2-1.
Top seeds Kazakhstan will begin their campaign today against Bhutan while second seeds Vietnam will face Iraq.
Fourteen teams are vying for the tickets to the Junior Fed Cup Final Qualifying while there are eight teams in the Junior Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Pre-Qualifying.
The top two teams from each competition shall play in the Final Qualifying in Melbourne, Australia in April.